Sen. Bob Casey backs gay, LGBT anti-discrimination bill

A Scranton Times-Tribune All Access subscription gets you complete access to both our print and digital publications, delivered to your home, desktop and mobile devices 7 days a week Digital Only Subscription Read the digital SMART Edition of The Times-Tribune on your PC or mobile device, and have 24/7 access to breaking news, local sports, contests, and more at thetimes-tribune.com or on our mobile apps. Digital Services Have news alerts sent to your mobile device, read the Smart Edition sign up for daily newsletters, activate your all access, enter contests, take quizzes, download our mobile apps and see the latest e-circulars.

northcarolinabathroomREUTERS

Kansas vowed on Wednesday to sue the Obama administration over a directive telling U.S. public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identities. The announcement by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt made the state the 13th to wade into an acrimonious debate about the rights of transgender Americans.

New culture wars erupt in the House

When Rep. Scott Peters offered a measure last summer to forbid funds in an underlying spending bill from being used by federal contractors discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, it was approved with little fanfare. President Obama a year earlier had issued an executive order prohibiting such discrimination by federal contractors.

U.S. court denies motion to reconsider transgender bathroom ruling

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday denied a motion to reconsider its ruling that gave a Virginia transgender high school student access to the bathroom of his gender identity. The Gloucester County School Board had asked the full U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to review the decision by a three-judge panel last month in favor of Gavin Grimm, a student at the local high school.

HERO: Dad Pulls Sons Out Of School After Officials Allow Girl To Use Boys’ Bathroom

A father of three in small-town Michigan has pulled his three children - all sons - out of the local public schools after one of the sons told him that school officials are allowing a girl to use the boys' bathroom because she really wants to be a boy. The scene of the transgender fracas is Howell, Mich.

Gay marriage victory at Supreme Court triggering backlash

Gay marriage victory at Supreme Court triggering backlash Transgender rights, religious exemptions represent next wave of legal battle Check out this story on pressconnects.com: http://usat.ly/1TObkL8 Protesters rally in April against a North Carolina law that restricts LGBT rights, including the use of public restrooms by transgender people. WASHINGTON - When the Supreme Court declared a constitutional right to same-sex marriage last June, the man who won the leading case warned that opponents would find new ways to push back.

The reinvention of the American South

As quietly as if a church mouse did it, the Georgia state holiday known for decades as Robert E. Lee Day this year became the decidedly more generic "State Holiday." In a state where the "Dukes of Hazzard" once careered around in a Confederate flag-emblazoned Charger named the General Lee, the decision by Gov. Nathan Deal to scratch the Southern war hero from the official celebration list should have elicited at least a few rebel yells, surely.

Towns in Texas, Arizona are battlegrounds in bathroom debate

Eleven states suing the Obama administration claim that a new federal directive about transgender students thrusts "seismic changes" upon 100,000 schools nationwide. But only two districts joined the lawsuit i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2i 1 2 Harrold, a Texas farming town with 100 students and a 2016 graduating class of four, and the Heber-Overgaard Unified School District northeast of Phoenix, a conservative region where summer homes are popular.

GOP conservatives scuttle energys pending measure over LGBT rights

In this May 17, 2016 file photo, a new sticker is placed on the door at the ceremonial opening of a gender neutral bathroom at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle. Conservatives in Congress angered by the inclusion of LGBT protections in an otherwise routine spending bill scuttled the measure Thursday.

Texas Leading Suit To Stop Obama Transgender School Policy

Calling the Obama administration guidelines "outside the bounds of the constitution," the McKinney Republican said that the state was taking action to protect a school district near the Oklahoma border that had passed a policy earlier this week requiring students to use bathrooms according to the gender cited on their birth certificates. "Harrold Independent School District fulfilled a responsibility to their community and adopted a bathroom policy puts the safety of their students first," said Paxton.

Another bathroom lawsuit filed; is Arkansas in it?

Led by Texas, 11 states have sued the federal government in Texas over President Obama's reminder that the law says transgender students are protected by non-discrimination law, including in using bathrooms aligned with their gender. Early coverage doesn't answer these questions that come immediately to mind: 1) What is the cause of legal action against a reminder of the law ? As yet, the government hasn't cut off money to any school that discriminates against transgender students.

11 states sue US government over transgender bathroom policy

Eleven states filed a federal lawsuit against the Obama administration over the directive instructing schools to provide transgender students bathroom and locker room facilities that match their gender identity. The states that filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Your Turn: May 23

Donald Trump arrives to see his daughter, Tiffany Trump, during the graduation ceremony at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. A reader wonders if supporters of the Republican presidential candidate would have attended another institution, Trump University, the subject of lawsuits filed by former students.

Conservatives plot to hold the line on social issues at convention

Faced with an independent-minded nominee, a changing electorate and a well-funded effort to moderate some of the GOP's positions, conservative Republicans are maneuvering to defend the line on social issues at the last place they can: the convention. Efforts are already underway to gain power on the Platform and Rules committees at the once-every-four-years gathering.